There have been a few setbacks for the 1.4-billion-peso (US $93 million) cruise ship facility in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, but they appear to have been resolved and the first cruise ship is expected to arrive in the first half of next year.

Construction of the home port, so called because it will be a departure and arrival point for cruise ships, began in early 2013 but strikes by transport workers, issues with construction materials and political and environmental pressures have created delays.

Probably the biggest setback was the discovery that rock to be quarried to form the base of a jetty was not suitable and concrete cubes will have to be used instead. Building the forms to pour the cubes — the project will need 73,000 weighing just under one tonne and 10,000 more weighing nine tonnes — is under way near the site.

The concrete is also a more expensive proposition than quarried rock, but state…